CompTIA offers free tool to assess IT security needs

Sometimes finding out about a cybersecurity vulnerability is like seeing a mouse in the kitchen. Before it happens, both businesses and home computer users tend to assume that their IT security is entirely shipshape. If you haven’t seen any problems, then why would you assume that problems exist, right? You only start asking questions after you see the mouse go scampering across the floor and dart behind the refrigerator. Where did that come from? How did it get in? Are there more of them? Most often, we address IT security shortcomings reactively, taking action after we observe something happen that directly reveals a problem.

With October being National Cyber Security Awareness Month, on the other hand, there’s no time like the present to consider taking a proactive approach. And for those who are ready to increase their cybersecurity preparedness and vigilance, IT industry association CompTIA is ready to help. On Wednesday, CompTIA announced the release of a free IT security assessment tool. The IT Security Assessment Wizard, created by the CompTIA IT Security Community, is a free web-based tool that helps IT personnel or individual users create a comprehensive profile of IT security readiness for a home or business. The tool assesses both strengths and vulnerabilities to indicate where IT security resources should be concentrated.

Each year CompTIA conducts research into security readiness. The group’s most recent report, 11th Annual Information Security Trends, issued at the end of 2013, revealed that just 13 percent of organizations have made substantial changes to address potential IT security problems since 2011. Businesses that suspect their IT security implementation and policies may have fallen off the pace of advancing technology, can use the IT Security Assessment Wizard to detect vulnerabilities. CompTIA executive Nancy Hammervik said in a press release that the IT Security Assessment Wizard harnesses the collective security intelligence of numerous top IT security practitioners from across the nation.

“It would be difficult, if not impossible, for most organizations to tap this level of expertise, yet we are making this important resource available to our industry and our customers free of charge,” Hammervik said. “That’s the power behind the resources and tools produced by CompTIA and our members.”

Those wishing to download the IT Security Assessment Wizardmust be CompTIA registered users or CompTIA premier members. There is no cost to become a registered user, and registration can be completed at the download site for the IT Security Assessment Wizard.